Superb dialogue makes up for a not thoroughly gripping episode

"Rabid Dog" as all Breaking Bad episodes with canine references in its title referring to Jesse is the lull before the storm, preparing the audience for the final quarter of the season. Although lull is quite an understatement, considering that Jesse almost burned Walt's house down just one episode ago and the intensity is still omnipresent.

Yet for these three quarters of an hour, the immensely talented screenwriting staff of the series got together to bring about a surprisingly amusing and quote-laden episode, whether it's the really good laughs (Jesse's "Yeah, Mr White is gay for me", Marie's psychiatrist's "Last week you were upset about the new parking rules", Saul's "But you got to understand, deep down he loves me") or the alarming, character-defining ones (Hank's "Pinkman gets killed, and we get it all on tape", Skyler's "We've come this far, what's one more?", Jesse's "Mr White he's the devil"). Pardon me for listing all of this, but I really noticed this episode's extraordinarily great dialogue and just wanted to bring up these moments again.

With the Whites' hotel and a closer look on the Schraders' interior decoration (Loved to see a Deadwood box on their bookshelf), there was also some wonderful set design to enjoy, while Michael Slovis's cinematography was as impressing as all his other work on the series. Thus, while it is one of the less momentous episodes of the final eight and has a couple of scenes that go on for too long, "Rabid Dog" shows other qualities of Breaking Bad more clearly and furthers the excitement for the grand finale.

Rabid Dog

It was slow at parts, especially with how last episode ended, but overall this was another strong addition to the final season of Breaking Bad. Best parts were Skyler telling Walt that maybe he should kill Jesse, the ending, Jesse calling Walt the Devil, and claiming that "No matter what you think will happen, the exact reverse opposite will Is he right? Let's find out

Rabid Dog

The episode had its moments, but some parts just moved a bit too slow for my liking. I also think Jesse's behavior is too bizarre and out of place, even for him, someone who has been peculiar since day one.

I liked the episode, but this little game of cat and mouse with Walt and Jesse/Hank is getting repetitive.

Rabid Dog Mind F@$#^& me good!

Rabid Dog was an awesome and excellent episode of Breaking Bad. I liked how the episode was split intwo and the same time line was seen from different points of view. There was a lot of action, drama and intense character development. There were many interesting scenes with lots of character energy. I know the series is coming to an end and I'll be sad. Saul and his Old Yeller reference were great. This episode is a great trbute to lead up to the series finale. I look forward to watching what happens next!!!!!!!!!

One way tickets

Rabid Dog

Since this is Breaking Bad we're talking about, I'll spare you the unanimous praise of how utterly brilliant the opening was. But it was just that, right as Walt sees Saul's car in front of his house and checks his whole house top to bottom (gun in hand with great music bumping up the suspense) and no sign of Jesse to be found it struck me as odd. I mean that bothered me for the whole first twenty minutes which are spent roughly with Walt trying to figure out where Jesse is and why he stopped halfway pouring gasoline all over Walt's house. His BS story about the carpet and a "malfunctioning pump" was seen right through by Jr. and Skyler and he makes them check into a hotel. But it was always nagging me that seeing Jesse in such a heated moment he didn't seem at all to think in the back of his mind "hey, this might be a bad idea. I'm gonna Him not being in the house with how soon almost found him there just didn't make sense. Walt puts his feelers out with Saul to have Jesse found and "dealt Saul floats another Belize metaphor in the form of Old Yeller, calling back to Jesse's Season 4 metaphor in his NA circle when he was vaguely discussing his consequence free killing of Gale and how it meant nothing and how he now represents a great threat to Walt. What was really surprising here was Skyler's willingness to off Jesse and her whole "what's one more" attitude towards the whole thing and despite Walt being a grade a remorseless jerk he still will not even consider killing Jesse under any circumstances. Seeing Walt stew in his own paranoia is nothing new, as most of Season 4 can attest to, but we did actually get answers as to what happened to Jesse. Turns out Hank caught him halfway through pouring out the gas, having been coked up at the time he poured the gas, and holding him at gunpoint all the while convincing him that Walt needs to be brought down another way. But Aaron Paul had another great breakdown saying "He can't keep getting away with Jesse is held at the Shraeder house and Gomez is brought into the mix as Jesse sleeps off the drugs and then tells everything on a taped confession much like Walt's pseudo confession last week. But it was a good way for Hank to get another info dump and connect the dots without us having to sit through the whole thing again. Hank can also use examples, especially when he addresses the core thing of Walt and Jesse which is that Walt wants to be just like the father that Jesse was never accepted by. That "Mr. White" that Jesse knew has melted away into this lying monster now and Walt wants to do anything to make amends, although Saul is absolutely right when Jesse isn't up to the moral justification of child poisoning. But it's nothing in terms of hard evidence it's just the word of a car wash owner and a junkie as Hank puts it. But it's good that he brought Gomez in on it and it seems to be something that Marie is on board with. Walt leaving messages for Jesse to meet him prove his undoing, however, as Hank and Gomez get him wired up to go meet Walt in public to get the solid evidence they need on record. But Hank also admits that Jesse is totally expendable to him which makes this the most shaky alliance in the show's history especially given the whole incident involving Hank's beating the piss out of Jesse back in Season 3. But just when you think that Jesse will go through with it, he thought it was a trap to have him killed in public by Walt, he sees a "suspicious" looking guy lurking around about 20-ish yards from the meet spot. He stands there and bolts to a payphone. He tells Walt, "nice try a**hole" and tells him that he'll get him closer to home next time. It's revealed later though that the suspicious looking guy was simply waiting outside for his daughter to get out of a store or the restroom or something. But Walt can't un-call Todd about him "having a job" for Uncle Jack. But I'm really intrigued to hear what Jesse's "other way" is to get to Walt since his throwing the wired meet seemed like their only play now. But whatever it is I certainly can't thing of the angle he's going at it from. Even Skyler could only be connected to the money and she's married to the guy. Who knows, the point is things went just the right sort of wrong to push Jesse and Walt even further apart. I guess even Walt has his shatterpoint when it comes to Jesse's protection and what that's worth to him because whatever Uncle Jack is going to be hired for it's not so that he can tickle Jesse and simply tie him up or something. With only four episodes left I'm wondering where this ends and the flashforward begins. But this episode had a lot going for it and kept the momentum going a lot faster than last week's did as we finally saw Hank get closer to getting the evidence to get the case he needs built.

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